2010 Comes to an END

With the end of 2010, we reflected back to find a year of unprecedented natural disasters. 2010 was the second worst year in history after a dreadful 1980. 950 disasters were recorded in the last week, compared to the 785 average in the past 10 years. Major points include earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, floods in Pakistan and China, forest fires in Russia, and the extremely bipolar weather here in Southern California with the highest temperature as well as an extremely rainy winter.

Many people speculate this to be a consequence of man-made influences - green house gases, pollution in factories, deforestation, etc. Whether these directly lead to the augmented frequency of earthquakes or floods, we do not know.

We can speculate though. Scientists claim that with global warming, more water evaporates causing a heavier condensation and therefore more rain. Others simply say that Earth is a lot bigger than human beings. The atmosphere is extremely volatile. One example is clearly the butterfly effect. When a slight fluctuation in the chemistry and biology of our atmosphere dominoes into a drastic change. On a more local level, whether predictions are often wrong - as we suffer wearing dresses and shorts in windy weather. These thoughts often mock scientists who attempt to justify disasters to human causation with a determination that is sometimes almost as fervent as the ancient days where God punished through typhoons and tsunamis.

Who is right, I suppose we'll never know. But what we are aware of is that Natural Disasters are occurring. They impact society significantly and destroy thousands on lives. As we close 2010, we leave a year where (according to CBC News) 260,000 people died via natural disasters, in comparison to the 15,000 in 2009.